Optical devices typically include optical elements held in a pre-determined spatial relationship by mechanical supports and holders. A mechanical package or housing may be provided to protect sensitive optical elements of an optical device from dust, shock, vibration, and other unwanted influences of the outside environment. To prevent external mechanical stresses from shifting optical components out of alignment, a dedicated rigid plate, termed “optical bench”, may be suspended inside the housing, and the optical elements may be mounted directly to the optical bench. When the optical bench is rigid enough, the mechanical stresses may be decoupled from the optical elements supported by the optical bench, reducing chances of an optical misalignment.
Telecommunications equipment is frequently held in racks, or crates, having an array of parallel vertical slots for receiving individual telecommunication modules. The slots usually have a fixed width. Accordingly, optical modules used in telecommunication equipment need to be narrower than a multiple of the slot width, and preferably narrower than a single slot width, to fit into their dedicated slots in the racks or crates. The requirement of maximal allowed width, or height if placed horizontally, may provide a restriction of the maximal height of optical devices used in the telecommunication modules. A mere increase of the optical device height by one millimeter may render the optical device unusable, or it may require a stepwise increase of the telecommunication module width by an entire slot width. Many similar modules may be required for a multi-channel optical telecommunications system, further multiplying the required slot space. For this reason, it may be highly desirable to reduce height of individual optical modules.
In view of the foregoing, it may be understood that there may be significant problems and shortcomings associated with current solutions for mounting optical components of optical devices into housings.